Produced in 1957, this documentary illustrates the day-to-day problems faced by the inhabitants of the Saar region under French political and economic administration between 1947 and 1957.

In 1947, French customs officers put up a customs sign at the crossroads where the roads to Saarbrücken and Zweibrücken meet, marking the economic border between the Saar and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

Under French political and economic guardianship from 1945 to 1957, inhabitants of the Saar watch the French occupying forces as they march through the streets of Saarbrücken.

A group of customs officers on duty at a border checkpoint between the Saar and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG).

On 19 October 1947, the Frenchman Gilbert Grandval, Military Governor of the Saar from 1945 to 1948, gives the opening address at the first session of the Saar Parliament.

Johannes Hoffmann, Prime Minister of the Saar from 1947 to 1955.

On 4 February 1950, in anticipation of the opening in Paris of diplomatic talks on the Saar between France and Germany, the Saar’s Communist periodical Neue Zeit considers the political and economic future of the Saar.

On 3 March 1950, in Paris, France and the Saar sign 12 conventions on the special status of the Saar which concern, in particular, the application of the economic union between France and the Saar, the operation of railways and mines in the Saar, the establishment of nationals from the two countries and the exercise of their professional activities, the supervision of insurance companies in the Saar, pharmaceutical regulations, inland waterway transport, mutual legal assistance, units and measuring instruments and the conditions for Franco-Saar road transport operations.

On 4 March 1950, the front page of the periodical Saar-Volksstimme, mouthpiece of the Social Democratic Party of the Saar (SPS), comments on the signing, the previous day in Paris, by France and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG), of the conventions on the special status of the Saar.

Against the background of the signature of the Franco-Saar conventions by France and the Saar on 3 March 1950 in Paris, the German newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung examines the origins of the difficult question of the Saar and describes the main measures being considered by the German Government with a view to resolving the issue.

On 6 March 1950, commenting on the signing of the Franco-Saar conventions on 3 March in Paris, the German daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung sets out the political and economic issues surrounding the settlement of the Saar question.

On 6 March 1950, the regional daily newspaper Saabrüucker Zeitung gives a positive assessment of the Paris negotiations on the agreements between France and the Saar and considers the implications of these agreements for the Saar.

‘There were two child kings — but unfortunately one took down the bridge that was supposed to lead to the peace treaty!' On 7 March 1950, commenting on the signing of the Franco-Saar Conventions on 3 March in Paris, German cartoonist Peter Leger criticises French policy regarding the Saar and expresses concern for the future of Franco-German rapprochement. From left to right, Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, and Johannes Hoffman, Saar Prime Minister.

‘The abduction of the Saar — “You’ll get it back in 50 years.”’ On 7 March 1950, commenting on the signing of the Franco-Saar conventions, the Rheinische Zeitung illustrates the consequences of these agreements for the Saar territory and emphasises the strong emotions that they are evoking in the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG). Although these agreements confer a greater degree of autonomy on the Saar Government, they hand the responsibility for operating the Saar’s mines to France for the next 50 years. From left to right: Robert Schuman, French Foreign Minister, and Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer.

On 13 March 1950, Marinus van der Goes van Naters, Netherlands Delegate to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, forwards to Hendrik Oosterhuis, President of the Netherlands Trade Union Federation, a letter in which he analyses the most recent agreements concluded between France and the Saar region concerning the accession of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) and the Saar to the Council of Europe.

On 1 April 1950, Franz Singer, Minister for Economic Affairs of the Saar, publishes an article in the CVP-Rundschau, the newspaper of the Christian People’s Party of the Saar, in which he analyses the implications of the agreements, signed on 3 March 1950, between France and the Saar.

On 9 February 1952, Johannes Hoffman, Prime Minister of the Saar (left), and Georges Bidault, French Foreign Minister (right), meet at the French Foreign Office to consider the Franco-Saar problem.

In August 1952, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs draws up a memorandum which sets out why it is in the interest of both France and the Saar to maintain their economic and monetary union.

‘Negotiations on the conventions — Erwin Müller: “What — is that all you’re bringing me compared with what’s written on the menu!?!”’ In March 1953, the Saar satirical magazine Der Tintenfisch illustrates the astonishment of Erwin Müller, Saar Minister for Justice, at the disappointing results of the negotiations between France and the Saar in the following fields: economic relations, the joint operation of the Saar’s mines, Franco-Saar courts, mutual legal assistance, fiscal and budgetary cooperation and mutual administrative assistance.

On 16 May 1953, the regional daily newspaper Saarbrücker Zeitung expresses its satisfaction with regard to the progress of negotiations on the conclusion of new agreements between France and Germany on the Saar.

On 20 May 1953, in Paris, Georges Bidault, French Foreign Minister, and Johannes Hoffmann, Prime Minister of the Saar, sign a series of conventions, in particular on economic relations between France and the Saar, the joint operation of the Saar mines, Franco-Saar courts, mutual legal assistance, fiscal and budgetary cooperation and mutual administrative assistance.